Gone For the Kittens
by Kate Has The Wings
Summary: Yes, it's the old story I wrote many years ago. I'm in the process of rewriting and revamping this sucker. I plan on rewriting everything past chapter two and go in a different direction. Leave a comment if you have absolutely anything to say XD
1. Kuwabara is gone for now,

Kuwabara sat alone in his self-founded cat shelter. Years had passed since Kuwabara's youth. He'd graduated high-school with near honors, and got a college degree in General Studies. The decorations from his graduation party still hung on the walls, even it being a week after the party. He had never really known what he wanted to do with his life, so he didn't major in something he probably was never again going to use. Kuwabara had starred in his college football team, and would have made it to the play-offs if he hadn't torn a tendon in his left knee during a mission.

Cats surrounded him, and purred happily, jumping off of his legs, batting at each other, and attacking his foot. Kuwabara sighed tiredly. He wasn't normally the kind of guy who let things get to him, but for some reason, almost overnight, everything seemed to bother him. He loved these cats with ever fiber of his being, but they required so much care and it took a large portion of his take-home pay just to feed the poor abandoned creatures. Deep in his soul he knew he couldn't keep this up forever. No matter how hard he tried, or how much he tried to pretend he was invincible, it just wasn't so. He cared for the kittens alone, and didn't have money enough to pay an employee.

Kuwabara knocked one kitten off of another, and watched, bemused, as it tumbled and looked around confusedly. Some of the kittens, and Eikechi, the old, wise, mother cat, pounced in now that there was a vacant spot on Kuwabara's leg. Eikechi had once been a rotund cat, but Kuwabara put her on the special healthy-cat brand name food that guaranteed a slimmer cat in just five weeks. It had been four years, and she was still on the pudgy side. She was Kuwabara's first cat, and still, even after high school, she played with the vigor of a cat three times her minor.

Even with all the love he received from the kittens, thoughts of letting his team down swirled through Kuwabara's mind. Kuwabara's youth seemed to be running away from him. His injured knee held him back from his potential, and recently he'd been feeling his knuckles grind together. He was 23 and getting arthritis. That had to be unnatural. It hurt his chest to think about slowing the team down, being a burden to the others, and his chest panged even more when he thought about them babying him as they did. They downplayed how much of a burden to them he really was. They were pitying him, and he couldn't stand for that. His honor, his very pride would not allow such cruelty.

He was getting older, he was slowing down. He may not of been thirty or forty years, but running in league with demons as he did, he felt like he was over the hill, and staring at his death bed. He had to be honest with himself; he couldn't keep this up forever. Sooner or later Hiei would mention it, call him a feeble, old man, and Kuwabara would snap - or worse - he'd agree. Kurama was the worst of them, helping him along when his knee felt like it was going to give out, giving him special herbs to make it hurt less, doing all he could to make sure the others didn't notice how very far he was falling behind them.

Kurama's kindness hurt more than his honesty.

Kuwabara knew he had only two choices, he could let the cat shelter go, and see more of his beloved feline friends dead in the streets, or he could quit the team and not be a burden to his friends any longer. He knew he couldn't put these cats out on the streets again, they didn't deserve that, and he knew it was too much for his truly weak soul to take to let his only friends just slip by.

His pride and his honor code was the only thing that held him in a semblance of sanity these days. He knew he could be broken easily, one harsh word out of Hiei, and he would just walk away, take the hint and disappear. He knew that was a favor he was willing to do for the cold fire demon.

Kuwabara stood, refilled the cat bowls, placing the diet food specially aside for the portly queen, before slipping on his shoes as he prepared to leave for the night.

"Be good. Don't start a nuclear war." Kuwabara thought of more things to warn them about. "Don't throw up, or pee on the carpet, or lure poor unsuspecting dogs in here and then strip them to the bones, or order pizza."

The sun had long past set when Kuwabara exited the cat shelter. He wrapped his dark blue scarf around his chin, and buttoned up his light brown coat, stuffing his bare hands into his pockets.

He knew he could be shattered easily, and he knew right then and there that the daily mail, and monthly bills had finally done him in. It was time to stop playing children's games, he told himself, and it was time to start paying the man.

"Oh, hello, Kuwabara." Koenma greeted kindly, jumping off of his chair, and wandering to the front of the desk to look up at him.

"Hey, Koenma." Kuwabara smiled remorsefully.

"How's that cat shelter going?" Koenma asked, happy to have an excuse to stop working. He didn't care what his distraction was, but he would milk it for all it was worth.

"It's not doing so well." Kuwabara spoke honestly, shrugging his coat covered shoulders.

"I'm very sorry to hear that. If there's anything I can do, really ANYTHING I-"

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing I can't handle." Kuwabara held his hands up defensively.

"Well, if that's the case." Koenma hopped back up in his seat. "I assume you came here for a reason?"

"Yeah, I have some news, probably good news."

"Finally! It's about damn time one of you came to me with something that wasn't life threatening, team threatening, or a dire emergency!" Koenma smiled behind his binky.

"Uh… Yeah, about that… I can't go on missions." Kuwabara didn't know exactly how to word it without Koenma damning him to hell for eternity.

"So, you want a vacation?" Koenma asked, amused and confused by Kuwabara's vague news.

"Yeah, a permanent one." Kuwabara said

"Permanent?" There was an audible gulp. "Permanent?!" and then there was the very loud, audible sound of rage. "What in the seven hells are you thinking?!"

That was George's cue to rush in with a large stack of papers. "Koenma, sir-" As soon as George saw Koenma's red, angry face, he dropped the papers, turned heel and ran for cover.

Kuwabara didn't say a word, he knew well enough to let Koenma fume without interruption. In a minute or so God Jr. would calm himself and think logically.

It was a long minute before Koenma straightened himself. " Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I gotta be apologizing since the Tournament is coming up. It's my two week notice, you could say."

"You do know the tournament is in a _month_, right?" Koenma asked, more urgently, afraid Kuwabara would leave before the tournament, and leave him and Botan to fight. "Where am I going to find replacement fighters on such notice?!"

"Made sure I got here early enough so you couldn't catch me on technicalities." Kuwabara smiled at his wittiness. It was actually his sister's comment that spurred on his early retirement, though he'd take the credit himself this time.

"Yukina will be there..." Koenma tried to lure him.

"Tell her I said hi, and she still needs to return that book I lent her." Kuwabara shrugged.

"Y-You can't just leave! What will Yusuke think of you? Worse, what will Hiei say of you?!" Koenma tried worriedly. "Kurama will worry! You don't want that, so stop being a wimp and put up with it for just another month! Please!"

"Look at yourself before you point at others." Suddenly Kuwabara's sadness turned into a murder-serious anger. "It takes a man to be honest enough with himself to understand when he can't get the job done, when he is only a burden on the people around him. Think about it like occupational seppuku." Kuwabara put his hands in his pockets, his seriousness not fading, but growing stronger. "You know I can't do this anymore, and who would watch the cats while I was at the tournament, anyway? I can't just leave 'em alone. I'm sure Genkai wouldn't mind joining in again, she's been kind of bored lately with the whole being dead thing." Kuwabara sighed, and looked slightly uncomfortable in this situation.

"You can't leave!! You can't!!" Koenma bawled. Kuwabara assumed it was only because he knew how very weak he was and figured he couldn't make it in a fight.

"I have to, I don't have a choice anymore. You can damn me to hell and it wouldn't change my decision." Kuwabara looked at his hand, then at his knee, at the source of what was causing him such pain. "Tell the guys, and give 'em my regards."

Kuwabara waved one last time, turned, and began to leave.

"Wait, Kuwabara, think this through!" Koenma begged. "Please, you can't just quit! I can't believe you'd fail your friends!"

Kuwabara looked back, angrily seething. "I can't keep up, okay?"

Koenma physically recoiled. He hadn't known Kuwabara was having such a hard time of it. He had told the Junior God that his knee had healed to perfection, that his hands didn't hurt him as much as it looked like they did. Why had Kuwabara lied to him?

"They have energy to spare, and I don't, alright? I can't go on pretending everything is okay when my body is falling apart."

"K-Kuwabara," Koenma could barely speak. His heart sank in his chest. "I didn't know-"

"Yeah, 'cause I didn't want you to. I'm crafty when I need to be."

"That's why I believe you should stay." Koenma's eyes welled up with tears.

"Don't be a big baby while the door is open, or dear ol' father will never forgive the embarrassment." Kuwabara noted.

"Can you tell me what spurred this on so suddenly?"

"The bills I couldn't pay, the medical costs, the cat shelter, all of it. They'll be fine without me holding them back. We both know they don't need me springing traps on them, lagging behind, and getting in over my head. With my leg, and my hands I've been nothing more than a burden to them, so they'll be fine without this feeble old man. Who needs a human on a demon team, anyhow?"

"Was it what the demons in the Makai say about you? I thought you'd have thicker skin than that, Kuwabara."

"Nah, it's not what anyone says. More that I can't keep the cat shelter during the evenings, work during the day, and fight at night. It wears me out. I need sleep, I need rest, I need to eat, and do other daily activities. Them? They can go forever, while I'm trailing behind telling them I'm doing it to watch their back, not so they don't see me when my knee gives out. I'm just not capable of keeping up anymore. I've trudged on this far by pushing the limits of my body, and I've pushed it too far. Now I'm just holding them to the ground when they know that without me they can soar. They're pitying me, and that's worse than their honesty."

There was a silence. Everyone in the mailing, filing, and shipping department could hear through the open door. Phones rang, and no one answered them.

" I'm just a human, Koenma, I'm just a goddamned human. The only thing worse than being a burden are those who let me." The ogres and reapers started gathering by the door. "I'm not something to be pitied and taken care of, that I can do for myself. But I can't keep up, or watch out for others when I can barely hold my own in a one on one fight, no less a crowded cavern full of angry demons who want to eat my face." The audience seemed to grow. "Humans have limits, and no matter how much I try to deny it - try to fight it - pretend that I'm still young and capable - I've passed my physical limit years ago. I'm a C class and we all know that." There was slight murmuring from the ogres in the hallway. "The guys can go on without me, I've always known that. I know that I will not be able to see them again, likely ever. It's the way classified projects work, I'm aware. So let's assume I'm in more pain than you are in fear of having to fight. So stop crying over a stupid fight you'll have to be in, you can handle it. You're wily like a wolf, so I have no doubt you'll pull through in the end."

"If that is your final choice, then so be it. You are no longer allowed to approach your… ex-teammates until the day you die. You are no longer allowed to come to this realm until you die. You are not allowed to associate with any demons you met during your missions here unless they approach you first." Koenma was reading him his rites before he executed him, or that's at least how it sounded to Kuwabara. "You are not allowed to talk to any non-makai, nor Spiritual Realm being until you die. You may not contact us, tell any others about us, talk to non-insiders about us, or you will be restricted to a mental institution for the safety of the worlds."

"Yeah. I got it. From this night on… I'm just another lousy human." Kuwabara turned, and left. The door as it closed sounded like a guillotine.

All ties had been severed.

"Why didn't you tell him how much stronger he has gotten?" Botan walked in from the door.

"Why didn't you tell him that we needed his mind? That we could repair his body to it's youthful state?

"Because he had made up his mind. No matter what I could have said, it wouldn't have changed a thing." Koenma rested his head on his desk.

Kuwabara decided not to head home, but back to the shelter, it was the only place he could have peace of mind. Kuwabara needed the cats right now, he needed the comfort they provided him, the luxury of going his own pace, minus the times his knee wouldn't cooperate during lunch time.

Kuwabara's sadness was only matched by his absolute anger towards himself. His mind was sharp, his psychic abilities were unsurpassed, but his body was giving out on him, and that made him hate the life he'd been granted.

Kuwabara sat on the couch, and the cats ran to him, pouncing to be the first to be pet. He napped there for a while, before hunger woke him. Kuwabara walked to the kitchen, and opened the fridge, only to find a tom-cat sleeping there. The strange cat was not frozen to death, he just overheated easily, so the fridge was his favorite spot to be. Kuwabara opened a fresh can of cat food, and poured it into four bowls, for the cats before feeding himself a simple turkey sandwich. Kuwabara set the bowls down, and sat next to the bowls as he ate his meal, admiring the cute faces of the cats that loved him no matter what.

When the cats were done, he poured what was left into a cup with a lid, and put it back next to Debars , the cat in the fridge. Kuwabara sat back on the couch with the cats, and fell asleep, snuggled by a million warm fuzz-balls.

The doorbell was the next thing that roused Kuwabara from his sleep. Probably some pranksters, or some children who found a hurt kitten on the side of the road. Kuwabara stood, clad in his pjs. Yusuke stood outside, his hands in his pockets, a angry face, glaring squarely at the doormat, which said "Cats Welcome, humans ... Not so much."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kuwabara asked "What time is it? 3:26?"

"Yep." Yusuke said, knowing Kuwabara always knew the time, and always knew the temperature, and which way to go, or what was safe and what wasn't, because his sixth sense was that strong.

"Something wrong? Wanna come in?" Kuwabara asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes

"No time." Yusuke said frankly.

"Why not?" Kuwabara asked.

"We got a mission. Someone's been killing priests in the Makai. We figure it's cult or clan based." Yusuke said, looking at Kuwabara questioningly. "I always ring your doorbell at 3 something for a mission."

"Not anymore, ya don't."

"Yes, forever I do, and you got nothing to say against that, got it?" Yusuke growled defensively.

"Yeah, I do." Kuwabara spoke before Yusuke could continue, saddened by the words he knew had to come out of his mouth. "I've retired. I no longer have any connections with the Spirit realm, or the Makai. I couldn't physically pass through the barriers if you shoved me through one."

Yusuke looked genuinely shocked, and kind of hurt. Yusuke couldn't understand why he quit, he loved it, didn't he? Kuwabara always seemed happy, and was a great help to the team as of late. His psychic abilities were multiplying ten-fold by the day, it seemed, so much so he could give Hiei a headache without even opening his mouth! Or maybe that was just an inherent talent of his. Kuwabara had been an irreplaceable part of the team since he joined. His sense of justice, honor, kindness, and most importantly, direction, had saved their asses more times than Yusuke cared to count.

"W-Why? Is that even possible?" Yusuke asked, sounding more hurt than he let himself look.

"It's for everyone's benefit. Let's leave it at that." Kuwabara wanted to make as light of this as he could.

"No, now tell me why, dimwit!" Yusuke bristled.

"I'm getting older while all of you are staying young. It's a natural aging process, just sped up twenty or thirty years. I guess I've been wearing myself out trying to make it look like I can keep up with you demons. I'm just a human, Yusuke, and pretending otherwise isn't helping anyone." Kuwabara used his leg to block the cats from escaping.

"B-but you've been doing so good lately, you really solved the Juade case, practically by yourself. If anything, we're trying to keep up with you and act like we helped." Yusuke said.

"My mind is getting sharper, but my body is getting older. I solved the Juade case based on thought alone. You guys did most of the grunt work." Kuwabara pushed the cats back inside, clicking his tongue as a stern 'no' to them. "Kurama could have figured it out."

"In a couple of days, yeah, b-"

"No, man, it isn't like that anymore. I can't run around playing games, chasing demons, and solving puzzles in the middle of the night with you. I'm in over my head already. I'm swamped at work.. I have responsibilities now, I'm not a care-free kid no more. I have to work at the corporation, and keep up the cat shelter, with all that, and going on missions, sorry, man, I can't do it." Kuwabara closed the door, and stepped outside.

"What about your responsibility to the team? To the lives you've saved?"

"Yusuke," Kuwabara said the words they both feared most. "I don't have a team."

Kuwabara stared evenly into Yusuke's eyes, not backing down. Yusuke broke the connection, and glared at the ground.

"You better get going, and tell the guys, 'cause I guess when I told Koenma to tell, he musta forgot." Kuwabara shrugged. "I guess I'm more forgettable than I thought." Kuwabara laughed nervously.

Yusuke just looked down sadly, and sighed. "Then... I'll... see you around."

"You'll see me, but I won't see you." Kuwabara closed the door in Yusuke's face..

The informal goodbye hurt Kuwabara more than he thought mere words could, knowing for a fact he would not see Yusuke again for a while. Kuwabara sighed, and looked down into his shirt pocket, to see a kitten sleeping happily, and purring contently.

"Don't tell me you lost him?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke just glared. "He's _sick_."

"If you think I buy your bullshit, you're mistaken. I've tried to kill that kid with diseases a thousand times. Believe me, he isn't sick." Hiei growled.

Yusuke grabbed Hiei by the neck, and shoved him into a tree, choking him. "If I said he is sick, he is sick, okay?"

"Yusuke! Don't be irrational. Hiei is as concerned as you are, he just shows it differently." Kurama intervened.

"Fine, whatever." Yusuke let him go.

The mission went horribly, the team tried using the 'trial and error' tactic, since Kuwabara wasn't there to point and say something dumbly heroic. By the time they nabbed the murderer a week and four days later, Kurama was a bloody wreck, Hiei's shirt was pink, and 'Flamer' was written across his forehead. Yusuke accidentally blew up a demon cow, and fell down an elevator shaft after opening a door and taking a precautionary step forward. They had been captured twice, and escaped each time barely with their lives, and with a little less sanity than when they entered.

When the group got to Koenma's with the murderer's head in their hands, they were in bad shape. Sure, they'd live, but they'd be sore in the morning, and for several to come.

"So, what is the real reason couldn't make it?" Kurama asked, more than a little peeved that they'd unnecessarily been put through to much agony.

"Yes, I want to know why I murdered him." Hiei growled, and this time Kurama didn't try to correct him.

"Look, he's uh... sick..." Koenma lied horribly.

"We've ruled that out, since Hiei decided to get him immunized from all the Makaian and Earth bound diseases so he wouldn't be getting the sniffles at every turn." Kurama growled "Kuwabara hasn't been sick once in his life, it is doubtful he'd start now!"

Koenma knew that if he told them Kuwabara retire, he'd get chewed out for letting him quit, and he wasn't ready to have an earful of angry demons ranting about singed hair, and a pink shirt.

"I'm leaving." Kurama growled at Koenma's nervous silence and walked out, Hiei trailing behind him.

"You should just tell them that he died. It would be better for all of us." Yusuke said sadly.

Yusuke wasn't angry anymore, he was just sad that he wouldn't be able to see Kuwabara anymore. Sure, once a month he could stop by with a kitten that took him three weeks to chase down, or one he bought from a store. He could maybe convince Kuwabara to go on a kitten-based mission, but that was ridiculous, and this brand new grown-up Kuwabara would probably not agree, even if it was for kittens. Kuwabara was gone from his life now, and he didn't know what to do with himself without the oaf to set him off.

Kuwabara groaned as the doorbell rang repeatedly. He picked up the cats on his lap, and put them on the floor, almost tripping over them as he tried to walk. He had just gotten in from work, and was more than his fair share of worn out, and exhausted. Kuwabara was the Assistant CEO of a stock company, he had gotten there through sheer hard work, and a letter from his father. Kuwabara got a good check of $1700.00 every two weeks, and that was with the taxes, mortgage, and finances already taken out, but it took lots of overtime and ass kissing to get there as quickly as he did.

"Hello?" Kuwabara answered the door.

"Hi, I have a cat here, that I just can't take in. Horribly allergic, you know the drill. I'd really like you to take him, and find him a good home. I heard you are very good with cats." None other than Kurama stood holding a little tiny kitten that fit in the palm of his hands.

A beautiful calico male. It was obviously a male, and he was light brown, black, and white, Kuwabara led Kurama in.

"Does he have a name?" Kuwabara asked.

"No." Kurama said "I just found him."

Kuwabara smirked at Kurama's lie. "Yusuke caught him, didn't he? He used cheese, the little bastard!" Kuwabara laughed

"Yes, you are correct." Kurama blushed embarrassedly, for both being caught, and his inability to catch a kitten himself.

Kurama stayed an hour, but when he was with Kuwabara he totally

forgot to ask why he wasn't there for the mission. Kurama left without an answer, but with a smile on his face. Kurama was home and in bed by the time he realized his idiocy.

Later that same night, Kurama rang the doorbell to Kuwabara's cat shelter, but there was no answer, Kurama called, and only got his answering machine, saying that he was probably at work, and gave a number to contact him at if it was an emergency. Kurama knew that this was no emergency, and didn't want Kuwabara to be fired.

Kuwabara hung his head in exhaustion, typing lazily. Kuwabara had never seen himself as the big-office-with-a-window-and-fridge-and-an-assistant-with-a-never-ending-bar-tab-and-also-he-did-dry-cleaning-free kind of guy, he had always been a construction worker at heart. Kuwabara took a large swig of coffee out of his mug. He already missed fighting the big baddie, the missions where he just couldn't go on and had to push his body past it's limit just to see how far it could go, his team- wait... They weren't his team any longer, he was not a part of it anymore, he was not a Spirit Detective, he was just a office worker who ran a cat shelter.

He was normal. A number in a file on a piece of white paper among millions of other white sheets and numbers. He wasn't in constant contact with demons, he wasn't in contact with "god" or "The grim Reaper". He was just a normal kid starting life out on his own.

"Uh, Kuwabara, sir, you have a visitor, he's here about Project: God Jr.. Should I let him in?" Kuwabara's secretary asked

"Sure." Kuwabara chuckled, it was obvious who it was, it was one of his team mates.

Which one would be anybodies guess. He knew it couldn't possibly be Kurama, he had enough common sense not to get him fired. It probably wasn't Hiei out to get him fired or murder him, because there would be witnesses. So he deduced it was Yusuke being as reckless as always. His team was surely unpred-

There, he did it again, they weren't his, and he didn't belong to it. Kuwabara was shocked when he saw Yusuke approach in a business suit. It wasn't Yusuke actually being there, but how nice he looked in a three piece gray suit. It was one expensive suit Yusuke sported. He wore it like a pro, though, and Kuwabara found himself straightening his own plain black tie trying to not look like crap next to Yusuke.

"What're you doing here?" Kuwabara chuckled. "And why are you wearing that?"

"I had to look businessy to get into this joint. I'm here to convince you to come back." Yusuke took the seat in front of Kuwabara's desk. Kuwabara closed the door.

"Sorry, Yusuke, I'm can't go back to you guys." Kuwabara sat down in his cushy chair.

"I never asked you to, I wanted you to come back to see Koenma, he's scared out of his wits, man, Kurama couldn't help, Hiei was hopeless, I don't know why we asked him, and you know I'm no good for pep-talks. Do you know why he is so scared?" Yusuke asked

"Since I quit, there are two spots you have to fill, not just one, and Koenma will have to be one of them since George is being an announcer, and everyone else in unable to for some reason. Koenma doesn't want the crap beaten out of him this year, and he'll probably also have to send Botan in, but only as place fillers. If you guys are unable to fight, they'll have to go in." Kuwabara chuckled. "Jeez, he's such a baby!"

"That's it?! We're not even going against Toguro this year, since they pulled out."


	2. And maybe forever more,

Kate Has The Wings: It's up to you who Kuwabara ends up with, so don't be shy about reviewing and telling me. I've decided to add a plot to this story, instead of it being just fluff, so review, and tell me what you think.

………………………………...………………………………

"What're you doing here?" Kuwabara chuckled, "And why are you wearing that?"

"I had to look businessy to get into this joint. What am I here for? You." Yusuke took the seat in front of Kuwabara's desk. "You never return my calls, you're conveniently never home when I come visit. Dammit, 'bara, if I have to drag you back to Rekai, I will."

Kuwabara closed the door, trying to make light of the limp he knew he sported.

"Sorry, Yusuke, I can't go back to you guys." Kuwabara sat down in his cushy chair.

"I never asked you to, I wanted you to come back to see Koenma, he's scared out of his wits, man! Kurama couldn't help, Hiei was hopeless, I don't know _why _we asked him, and you know I'm no good for pep-talks unless it's to you, and then it's only two words, and there like 'You pansy, stand up for yourself!', and yeah, I know that's more than two. I asked Botan and _she _had no idea, so I figured since his depression started after you… Do you know what's got his diaper all ruffled?" Yusuke asked

"Other than some smart fashion choices?" Kuwabara kidded.

"Seriously, 'bara, if you know something, you gotta tell me. This can't get outta hand. When he's like this, it put's my territory at stake. Kurama and Mukuro's as well. We can't have an incapable Koenma, now can we?"

"Well, it may be 'cause I quit. There are two spots you have to fill on your team for the tournament, not just one. So Koenma will have to either set long lengths of time for auditioning fighters, or he'll have to step in. George is being an announcer with Koto, and everyone else probably found one excuse or another not to look like the weak guys on the Uremeshi team. Koenma doesn't want the crap beaten out of him this year, and he'll probably also have to send Botan in if you really want to compete, but only as place fillers. If you guys are unable to fight, they'll have to go in." Kuwabara chuckled. "Jeez, he's such a baby!"

"That's it?! We're not even going against Toguro this year, since they pulled out."

"Who necromancied those idiots, anyhow?"

"Necromancied? I don't think that's a word, Kuwabara." Yusuke dodged the punch aimed at his head.

………………………………...………………………

Kuwabara felt more like a failure than ever before. By not being in the tournament, he was letting his tea- Yusuke's tea- What was he thinking? There were plenty of fighters out there, they didn't have to depend on him. Selfish thoughts like that was what got him depressed in the first place. Maybe it was all of Hiei's jabs just building up, or Kurama pity for him that finally did him in, or it could have been Yusuke's blind faith in him when he knew he didn't deserve it.

Kuwabara was old, and blaming his age on Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, or even Enma was unreasonable. Old age was not meant for the weak.

Something was wrong with him, and he knew it. No one's body deteriorated as quickly as his had. He made a mental note to see a doctor if he kept getting worse. Some part of him was dying, and he could feel that, which part was a bigger mystery he could not even pretend to solve.

It had been a month. One long, calm, easy month. Kuwabara had got promoted in his company, and had gotten a substantial raise. It was just enough for Kuwabara to go back to school. He was attending night school to become a proper Veterinarian. He didn't like dogs so much, and horses had this thing where they loved him a bit too much, but other than that, Kuwabara loved all animals.

With classes at night, work all day, and cat shelter in the afternoon, Kuwabara ran out of time for anything else. He denied plans Yusuke tried to make with him, and flat out laughed Kurama out of the classroom when he tried to get into his classes. Kurama was not an animal person at all. He was a plant person, so Kuwabara referred him to the Botanical Gardens.

Strange things had been happening, too. Things Kuwabara could only explain by what he called 'friendly poltergeist'. Whenever he lost his keys, they suddenly appeared on the counter top. Or when he woke up every morning there was a fantastic cup of coffee waiting for him. Everything in his life was turning out perfectly.

The cat shelter was finally getting some business, and not just drop offs. At least forty cats in the last week had found nice homes, and ten more stayed while their owners were away on business, or vacation, or in the hospital.

The promotion and cat shelter were generating quite a bit of extra money, more than Kuwabara had to use for college. He could finally support the shelter all on his own, no loans from Shizuru, or nothing. Being a regular human was not as bad as he thought it would be.

But it was also a much lonelier life than he had expected. Yusuke hadn't stopped calling to invite him out, and Kuwabara's classes didn't stop intervening. He should have made friends in his classes, or even at work. He even could have, it wasn't by other people's lack of effort either. Kuwabara pushed everything away from him.

After a few weeks, the night classes got to be too much for Kuwabara, so he dropped out of college, and put overtime in at work. He was a failure in every sense of the word. His body was failing him, and he had no idea why. His knees had gotten progressively worse, and he had to start taking pain medication for his knuckles.

Every time something started looking up for Kuwabara, his body started heading farther downhill.

So things continued like that, Kuwabara heading to work, heading back to the cat shelter, and then falling asleep, only to wake up to go back to work.

………………………………...………………………

"Fuck."

Whether Kuwabara wanted to, or not, he knew that the fate of the Rekai rested once again on his shoulders, and he would have to take arms to save the stupid baby again. That's all Koenma really was these days anyhow - a goddamned, no pun intended - stupid baby. Last he heard the mentally deficient God Jr. had run away from home in an attempt to defy 'daddy'. No one could track him down, and no one dared put a search party out looking for him, knowing very well that was a bad idea. If the demons got wind that the short statured prince of the realms was wandering around among them all hell would break loose.

Seriously, the demons of the Makai would be searching for Kuwabara to open the portal to hell, and Kuwabara, no longer protected by the powers that be, would be in hot water to say the least. Hiei had had minor success tracking Koenma down, being only capable enough to know that he was in the Makai, and not on Earth.

That's what had Hiei knocking on the cat-shelter's door at 7 am that groggy, overcast Saturday morning.

Kuwabara, dressed only in his flannel PJ bottoms, and a few kittens, was not ready for his doorbell to ring.

"Fuck." Kuwabara unlocked the deadbolt, and swung open the heavy wood door.

He had had a screen storm door put in so that the cats didn't escape every time he opened the front door. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Kuwabara stretched. He looked out the door. No one was there. He looked down a little more, and saw Hiei glowering up at him. He really hadn't grown in height since they had first met. He was the size of a tall 12 year old in height, but had a little more muscle to his frame. All that training with Mukuro had to be worth something, Kuwabara thought groggily.

"Get dressed."

"Weren't you guys supposed to not come visit me? Something about protecting my identity and all that? Come back later." Kuwabara groaned, his tired self not wanting to deal with anyone on his day off.

"You're lucky I didn't wake you when I got here, fool." Hiei folded his arms over his chest.

"When did you get here?"

"Two in the morning." Hiei said dryly.

"In that case, fine, I'll go get dressed. Make some coffee for me in the meantime." Kuwabara turned, and went deeper into the shelter, and to his room to get dressed. He pulled on some washed out jeans, and an orange t-shirt. He pulled on some socks, and headed for the kitchen.

Hiei stood in the kitchen pouring a Starbucks coffee into the coffee pot, and trying to be sneaky about it.

"If you don't know how to work a coffee brewer, just say something." Kuwabara rolled his eyes, and took the coffee from Hiei's hands.

"I know all about your human technology. We don't have time to wait for that damned machine, anyhow."

"So next time you come visit me, you'll brew me the best cup of coffee I've ever had?" Kuwabara couldn't help but taunt the technologically retarded demon.

"As if I would visit you." Hiei still held the same malice for Kuwabara as he always had, but it had gotten worse through the last few months of Kuwabara's Detectiveship.

"Then why are you here?" Kuwabara's humor left his voice. He opened the fridge, and got an apple, some leftover meatloaf, and a turkey leg. He sat down at the table stationed in the middle of the kitchen-living room, and got to eating.

Hiei looked only minorly disgusted by Kuwabara's meal, and slightly intrigued by the meatloaf. "If you don't already know, then I've gone to the wrong psychic."

"I don't do grunt work anymore. Figure it out yourself. That Jagan eye has to have some practical use, otherwise it was one pretty dumb investment." Kuwabara noted, finishing the turkey leg in one bite.

"You'll do grunt work until the day you die, Kuwabara, that's the human's lot in life, so get used to it." Hiei was losing his cool. "The Jagan is only an amplifier. With someone with as much ability as Koenma in hiding one's presence, I stand no chance."

"And I do?" Kuwabara sipped at his coffee, and leant back in his chair.

"Sensui couldn't find him."

"And what makes you think I'll be able to find him if Sensui couldn't?" Kuwabara asked. "Sensui has extra incentive to find him. He finds him, he can kill him."

"Exactly." Hiei said flatly.

"And that makes my chances, what? One in ten billion?"

"You should be complimented I came to you at all. Koenma's life is in your hands, not mine. If he dies, the weight of his death will ride solely on you. I'm not going to make you go, but the consequences for inaction is greater than those for an action that has failed." Hiei turned, and flitted away in an instant.

"Dammit. Gotta guilt trip me into this, doncha you little freak." Kuwabara's street accent slipped back in his absolute rage. "Fuck."

……………………………… ……………………………… ……………………………

Botan had come by a short time later to get Kuwabara through a portal, and into the Makai. It saved time and energy for both of them to do it that way.

"Are you sure you don't need me to help you out?" The reaper asked, throwing a few punches in the air, and hitting herself in the face.

"Yeah." Kuwabara chuckled, embarrassed for her horrible skills. "I think I'll be fine."

"Alright." She sighed, and disappeared.

Which left Kuwabara standing alone, deep in the forests of the Makai, with no back-up, no plan, and no guarantee he'd find the little King at all. He was glad he had chosen boots instead of shoes for this long trek to civilization.

He could feel the energies of demons moving through the forests, most on their ways to different places, and others followed him. He could tell that they were just curious as to why a human with such low spirit energy was wandering around alone in the Makai. It had happened before to unsuspecting hikers and spelunkers who had gotten themselves lost. More than half of his solo-missions had been to go find them, and bring them back to Earth safely.

That had gotten him in quite a bit of trouble sometimes, but things always seemed to work out in the end. Everything always seemed to work out in the end, Kuwabara knew that, heck, it's what kept him sane and alive the last few years. His legs started throbbing after the first four hours of walking. When he had been younger, he could've walked for a whole day without his legs complaining. When he had been younger… Man, that sounded weird in Kuwabara's head. He wasn't that old!

Kuwabara marched on for a few more hours before taking a short break in a clearing. His knee felt like giving out on him, and his knuckles hurt from being exposed in the moist humidity of the forest. He could feel a dark spot on the ground coming from a city that lay not far ahead. It didn't put him at ease knowing what was ahead. There was so much pain emanating from the city, so much hate and sadness. Kuwabara stood to continue, but more than once it brought Kuwabara to his knees. He knew none of the others would be able to walk towards this kind of pain until he calmed the spirits in the city. He had a feeling the others would show up eventually, and he dared not even think about letting them experience this kind of pain.

He knew not what lay ahead, other than the beginning of Yusuke's territory, and the end of the forest. Yusuke had to of been slacking off in his Kingly duties if a city of his felt like this. Kuwabara got to his feet slowly, cracked his neck, and gave himself a mental pep-talk. If he ever saw Yusuke again he was going to slug him one good for being a crappy king.

When Kuwabara cleared the forest, and entered the city, Kuwabara renounced his previous vow in heart of a better one; he would kill Yusuke for the things he'd let pass him by.

There _was _no city. There were no buildings standing, just smoldering remains, and charred ground. Bodies of women, children, and infants were strewn about near the forest, killed during their escape by well aimed arrows to the back.

Not one of them were alive. What the hell had happened here?! Kuwabara wasn't even sure he wanted to know. Kuwabara ignored the pang in his chest to find the center of the city. He sat down, and the spirits rose.

"Make a line!" Kuwabara sighed.

………………………………... ……………………………

"You sent him into my territory alone?! What the hell were you thinking? I've got two Mercenary tribes, a bandit Clan, and some renegade soldiers destroying the cities!" Yusuke tried to keep his absolute rage under control. "Kuwabara can't take that much strain on his spirit. Even I can't take that much strain alone."

"I thought you'd've gotten my message that told you to meet him just outside the forest! Didn't Kurama tell you?" Botan asked.

"Knowing Kurama he probably decided to be a selfless bastard and try and go save Kuwabara on his own. Thought all tactical like about how he could take on a couple dozen demons. I gotta go." Yusuke rushed out of the Rekai office.

………………………………...………………………………

It took Kuwabara a day and a night to calm the demon's spirits, and send them off to the Rekai to wait. Kuwabara stood, shakily, wary of his injuries. Injuries? Kuwabara's knuckles felt fine, his knee felt like new. Maybe all that cleansing of spirits did some good for his own. Kuwabara was surprised that he couldn't sense Kurama, Hiei, or even Yusuke near by.

Normally by this point they'd be there, and track down the bastards who did the killing, and then send them for sentencing. Who was waiting 'upstairs' to sentence them? No one, probably. Enma save us all if it was Hiei's shift.

Kuwabara walked slowly out of the town, enjoying the feeling of no pain, the lack of complaining from his joints, and the overall peace he felt. Kuwabara followed the road leading towards a bigger civilization. Whenever he saw a dead body on the side of the road, he would stop, and help the spirit cope with what had happened, and vow to do things, like punish those bandits, or give a letter to their wives.

It was a long, lonely road Kuwabara walked. He was starting to get paranoid that something had happened to Yusuke, or if they all decided to just let this be up to him in some cruel very early April fool's joke.

"Mr.?" A little voice from beneath an overturned wagon called him.

"Hold on a second, don't move!" Kuwabara looked around the wagon, and then decided the best course of action. "Get to the very center of the wagon, or as close as you can get!"

"Okay."

Kuwabara grabbed the edge of the wagon, and lifted. It was a dumb thing to do, knowing how his knuckles would not forgive him for this. It was one heavy wagon. Kuwabara lifted it up to his shoulders as best he could. "Hurry, get out of there!"

And then everything went black.

………………………………...………………………

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?!" Kurama bashed the bandit clan Leader's skull into a tree mercilessly.

"We don't kidnap or ransom. We steal, kill, and pillage, that's it." The bandit leader was dropped to the ground.

Kurama looked down at him with detestation. Hiei appeared next to Kurama, a face of pure frustration written across his features.

"What?" Kurama asked impatiently.

"The fool is gone and no one can find him either." Hiei said with annoyance. "Not to mention word of Koenma's disappearance has gotten out."

Kurama could not speak.

The bandit leader, however, decided this was a good time to say what he knew. "I heard that the Mercs were paid a lot of money to trick some human fighter and kidnap him, and well, I don't know anything more than that."

Kurama turned sharply to him. "You had better, or I'll make you answer to someone far more dangerous than Hiei or myself."

"I told you everything I know!" The bandit leader cried.

Hiei's Jagan eye glowed beneath it's wrapping. "Let's get out of here."

"Now we at least know where to start."

………………………………...

Kuwabara woke in his bed at the shelter. That was weird. The last thing he remembered was lifting something heavy that some kid was left under, and then blacking out. That couldn't have been a dream, could it?

Kuwabara swung his legs to the ground, and quickly made it to his feet. Something weird was going on. The house was warm, and his alarm clock hadn't gone off.

The warmth didn't surprise him as much as his alarm clock missing it's cue did. He'd have to call work and tell them he'd be late. For the first time in his working career he was going to be late. He quickly dressed into his work uniform, a sharp looking suit and tie, before running downstairs to call work.

"Hey, Carinne, this is Kuwabara, my alarm clock didn't ring today, so I'll be an hour late. I'm so sorry." He spoke so apologetically, hoping his honesty would ring through, and he wouldn't get docked much pay.

"Oh, we were wondering what was keeping you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just need to get some coffee, and then I'll hit the road." Kuwabara promised.

"That sounds fine."

"Thanks." Kuwabara hung up, and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. His coffee wasn't made. For some reason he was expecting the coffee to be made. He laughed at that. "Coffee doesn't make itself."

Kuwabara opted to just feed his cats, and be off. He left food out in their bowls, and didn't wait to see them running for it. He left the shelter quickly, and locked the door. He jumped on his motorcycle, and sped through the streets to work.

………………………………...

"H-he's gone?" Yusuke couldn't believe it, refused to believe it was the truth.

"What's the point in lying about something so serious?" Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Track him down. Now." Yusuke sat in Koenma's chair. Enma had for some reason deemed him the most capable of fulfilling his duties and paperwork.

"That's the thing, I can't." Botan said matter of factly, "If you had been listening, and not repeating the words we say in question form, you'd know that."

"What do you mean, you can't trace him!?" Yusuke was rubbing his temples. "Let's think about this logically."

"Finally." Kurama muttered under his breath.

Yusuke shot him a glare. "We know that the Mercs were paid to kidnap him. We know they used a little boy to do it. We also know that Kuwabara isn't in great health."

"We knew that last bit?" Hiei asked, looking to Kurama for confirmation.

"Not you, I guess." Botan added.

"Kuwabara has had some mobility problems for the past few months. I was trying to downplay it with him, and help him keep up." Kurama nodded. "He's too young for the problems he's exhibiting. Arthritis among other things," he clarified.

"Arthritis." Yusuke instinctively grabbed his knuckles. "I've got it in one finger, but that's from an injury. How bad did he have it?"

"As far as I observed it was in every knuckle on his left hand, and most of the joints on the right hand. He has ligament problems in his knee, which he would probably need surgery to repair to a non-painful condition."

"That kind of pain is nothing." Hiei sighed. "Big idiot."

"Not for you, maybe, but that's because you're a demon." Botan explained. "Demons have a ridiculously high pain tolerance. Hiei, do you believe that a broken rib can kill you?"

"Of course not."

"Well, it could kill Kuwabara. It could puncture a lung, and so much more. What do you do when your shoulder gets pulled out of it's socket?" Botan continued.

"I push it back in." Hiei didn't see the significance.

"Humans go to hospitals, get knocked out with medicine, and then have someone else push it back in." Botan answered.

"Humans are weak." Hiei averted his eyes.

"But Kuwabara never complained." Yusuke noted, more to himself. "That kid almost got beaten to death, twice every fight, and could still walk out of every mission with a smile, and a new scar."

"I didn't want to bring this up, but I also think there's something wrong with his heart." Kurama added, not expecting a silence to follow.

"Like it's broken?" Hiei grunted out.

"No, I think he has a genetic defect in one of the valves of his heart." Kurama looked down.

"I didn't know that." Yusuke leaned on the desk.

"He did." Botan answered. "He told me about it during one of the first missions you were all on. Any one of those missions could have stalled his heart, pumped too fast until it couldn't pump anymore. He said he was going to live until he couldn't, and no one could stop him."

"That idiot. He should have told me. There must have been something we could do." Yusuke rubbed his eyes with his hands, tired, and a headache forming.

"There was a lot Koenma could do, and if Kuwabara ever came back to the team, Koenma said he'd fix him." Botan nodded. "But Koenma also saw something different about Kuwabara. Different in what way, I can't tell. I don't know."

"Let's focus on the here and now, here and now." Hiei demanded. "Once we get this all sorted out, we'll get the idiot fixed, and we can all go home."

No one said a word, but they could all tell that even Hiei was worried for Kuwabara.

………………………………...

Kuwabara got to work half an hour after he had left the shelter. He parked his bike in the garage, and headed to the office. Carinne smiled at him, and clocked him in as he passed the desk.

"Did I miss a meeting?" He asked the older woman.

"No, I rescheduled them for tomorrow morning." She continued to type.

"Aw, Carinne, you're the greatest." Kuwabara entered his very own office, and closed the door.

He had a window in his office. He had a fake rubber plant in his office. He had a computer desk, AND a conference table in his office. It was one awesome office. No one but him and the big guy had an office this nice.

The big guy? Why did that sound familiar?

Carinne buzzed from her desk "The boss wants to see you, want me to send him in?"

The boss coming to see him? Was he in trouble? Was he going to lose his beautiful window-view office?

"Send him in." Kuwabara pressed the button on his phone, and sat down, pretending to look more professional than he really was.

A man he did not recognize as his boss entered the room. He was tall, and young, not old and gray. He had a tattoo on his forehead, and was sucking a … was that a binky? What kind of joke was this?

"Kuwabara? Thank Enma! I thought I was insane." The man seemed to know his name. "Now I know what's going on!"

"I'm not sure what kind of joke this is, if this is some new-age Candid Camera show, or whatever, but get out of here. I've got paperwork to make up, and missed meetings to apologize for." Kuwabara dismissed him.

"Kuwabara, do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"Some celebrity or something, most likely. I don't watch TV or even go to the movies, so, nice job, you're a wonderful actor, but please go home."

"Kuwabara, if I could go home, don't you think I would?"

"Then just take the day off, or something, if you're so tired of this job. Take a vacation." Kuwabara spun his chair to face his computer.

"It's me, Koenma, don't you recognize me?"

"I told you, I'm not into movies." Kuwabara was getting fed up with this guy. Koenma. It sounded familiar. Just as familiar as any other celebrity name did.

"You haven't realized where you are yet, have you?" Koenma asked sadly.

"I'm at work, Mr. Koenma, and I'd appreciate it if you let me get to it." Kuwabara looked at him. "What happened to Mr. Oyaizu?"

"Mr. Oyaizu never existed in this world, Kuwabara. This is all in your mind." Koenma tried to persuade.

"Enough with the lying, okay? It's not all in my mind. My world is a solid, real place."

"Which is exactly why we're both still alive. You have a pocket of reality in your mind that is protecting both of us." Koenma tried.

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Give me a little time to try and explain this to you." Koenma pulled a chair up to the opposite side of the desk. "Since I'm apparently your boss in this world of yours, I demand you listen to what I say."

"Guess I can't argue with that." Kuwabara stopped typing, and swiveled his chair to face Koenma. "Have at it."

"Was anything different this morning?"

"Huh?"

"Something you expected to happen, or to be there?" Koenma urged him on.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, my alarm clock didn't go off, and the coffee wasn't made, now that I think about it."

"Why would the coffee be made?"

"It's always made, when I wake up." Kuwabara said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do you make it that morning, or the previous night?"

"No." Kuwabara started to become more conscious of how insane he sounded. "It's just always there."

"The coffee is always made because Hiei goes to the store, and fills up your coffee brewer with Starbucks coffee." Koenma said plainly.

"If you plan on giving me an assistant, why not tell me about it?" Kuwabara groaned.

"No, no, no! Hiei hates you."

"So it's poisoned coffee?" Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. "Thank god he didn't make me any today!"

"No, it's not poisoned!"

"So he doesn't hate me."

"Well, of course not! Hiei's been pining after you since the day you two met." Koenma outraged.

"So why did you say he hated me?"

"He just pretends - dammit Kuwabara, why are you so wrapped up in this place?!" Koenma hung his head. "Why can't I break you out of this?"

Kuwabara placed a hand on his shoulder. "Because I like to work here. Don't worry, Mr. Koenma, I won't give up on the company. No test of loyalty is needed, honest. I'll keep working hard, and stay late if you need me to."

"Thanks, Kuwabara." Koenma said, and placed his head on Kuwabara's shoulder, thinking up new tactics for Kuwabara to believe.

"Uh… no problem…"

Koenma sighed. "This is going to sound crazy." He sat up. "Just listen, though. Imagine that this world is just inside your head. It's a real place, with real people, but we're all trapped inside it. We come from the world that is attached to your body, not your mind. We both got into trouble, and the bastards who kidnapped us put us under lots of mental stress; interrogation, torture, the whole lot. You pulled both your own, and my own, minds into your world to protect them from further damage. In the life outside of this one there are three worlds, Earth, Rekai, and the Makai. Anything sounding familiar?"

Kuwabara nodded cautiously.

"You are a human from Earth, who was once a street punk who beat up everything that moved. And then you met Yusuke, someone you couldn't beat."

"Yusuke." Recognition flashed in Kuwabara's eyes.

"And then he died." Koenma paused. "And went to Rekai where I gave him another chance at life. He used your body, and eventually made it back. You two were inseparable for the longest time. Then you met Hiei, and Kurama, both demons with human forms. Each one's back story is far too long to get into."

"Kurama was a demon in a human, Hiei just had a human body to look normal-ish in." Kuwabara nodded.

"Yeah!" Koenma was getting excited. "There were tournaments you four fought through, and you grew up into men together." Koenma would never admit how proud he was of the boys. "Then Yusuke found his lineage, and went off to become King of a part of the Makai. Kurama is King of a piece of Makai as well. Hiei is the successor to Mukuro's throne."

"Until the old bat dies." Kuwabara nodded.

"Yep. Well, Yusuke went away for a few years to be king in the hardcore sense of it. He missed you, and gave some power to people he trusted to use while he was away visiting you. There were missions now and then, mostly solo-missions for you, but your body started failing you, and even while I could heal it, I knew that by healing it, I would be getting rid of this pocket world in your mind."

"Oh."

"Which I knew we may of needed later. So, you quit the team when it got too much for you body to handle, and Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama all took it pretty hard. Kurama bought an apartment near your cat shelter just to be closer to you. Hiei started breaking in and bringing you coffee, and finding your things for you. Yusuke just barged into your life, and office, any way he could."

"But something happened?"

"Yeah. I wasn't scared to fight in the up coming tournament. I knew that as soon as you quit, there would be serious repercussions with my father, and politically as well. My father told me to run to the Makai while I still had the chance, and I did so. But something happened, and I got caught."

"And then someone, probably Hiei, came and convinced me to help find you, where I got kidnapped and placed with you in a holding cell. We're probably laying right next to each other, but talking in my mind."

"That's exactly it! Perfect!" Koenma sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"No problem. I think that would be a great script for a television series. I bet your producer would jump on board with that. Frig, I'd even watch it on TV. I'm glad I could help."

………………………………...

"Yusuke, what's wrong?" Kurama asked, once they were alone in the throne room.

"What's wrong? Kuwabara and Koenma are out there somewhere, and I'm stuck in here. I can't do anything but wait for news. I can't help. I can't do anything to save him." They both knew which one he was talking about.

"I'll bring him home, Yusuke, even if it takes my life." Kurama vowed, and left the room.

"What have we done?"


	3. But now opened is a door,

Koenma didn't know what to do. Kuwabara absolutely refused to believe that what he said was true. According to Kuwabara's brain it had been a week, but then again while Kuwabara had a great sense of direction and the current time, temperature and altitude, he absolutely sucked when it came to guessing the span of time that had occurred. Koenma was beginning to worry about the effects this world would have on Kuwabara's sanity and stability if their time there was prolonged.

It must've been exhausting for Kuwabara to entertain both of their ideas on the world and make it realistic. That's all this little world was, anyhow. Entertainment, and the way Kuwabara viewed the world. It was like a commercial on a television; advertisement for an unreal ideal while they waited for their scheduled broadcast to return. Koenma was worried for good reason, too. The world was becoming more and more unstable. It skipped vast amounts of time, it repeated itself, and sometimes when he opened a door, there was nothing behind it but a bright, white light.

Koenma had time on his hands, to say the least. While some time was skipped, other days were stretched on to last what seemed like an eternity. Koenma started working on theories as to the why and how of Kuwabara's pocket of reality. Some of his theories conflicted, however. It was possible that if Kuwabara became sentient of the world outside his body and the world inside it, that he would be better able to control it. It was also possible that it would destroy the world if Kuwabara became aware of it.

"Kuwabaarrraaaa! Listen to meee!" Koenma whined. He was on his back, lying on the comfortable carpet of Kuwabara's Shelter.

"I've listened to your idea a thousand times, Koenma, sir. It's fantastic. I even went out and bought you a script writing program so you can get working on it." Kuwabara pulled the small case from a plastic bag. He slipped off his shoes, and pointed to the computer table on the other side of the room. "All I've got left is change," Kuwabara jingled the money left in his pocket.

"You have a currency in your head? That you earn by an honest day's hard work and really spend on daily necessities? Wow. This is getting more and more realistic everyday." Koenma sat himself up. "Where did you get the money?"

"You pay my check, sir." Kuwabara started putting away the groceries he had brought in. He slipped off his green jacket, which left him in only some jeans and an orange t-shirt. "Can I ask you something, Koenma sir?"

Koenma's eyes opened with newfound hope. "Yes, anything!"

Kuwabara placed the eggs and milk in the fridge. "What are you doing here on my day off?"

Koenma let himself fall onto his back again. "Well, my world seems to disappear when you're not in it, Kuwabara. It seems like forever when you're not around, like I'm waiting in the dark for you to show up, and then when you do, the world comes into color, and there's light, and people, and it doesn't feel so lonely." Koenma almost recited.

"Uh, Koenma, sir... Don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" Kuwabara blushed, and turned one of the chairs at the kitchen table around so he could sit and face Koenma.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, aren't co-worker relationships a bit... illegal?" Kuwabara sat, and looked at his feet. "And we're both men..."

"What, will the police come and arrest me for sexual harassment or something?" Koenma didn't even feel like addressing the whole relationship thing.

"Yes, they have come to people's work before for that kind of thing."

"You have a currency AND a whole Police department in your HEAD?!" Koenma growled. "You always manage to leave me speechless, dumbfounded and helpless when you talk."

"I... Uh, sir, are you hitting on me?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

"I'm flattered, honestly, but..."

"Kuwabara that's not what I meant and you know it!"

...

Hiei held a fist over his chest. His heart hurt, and he couldn't figure out why. He had never felt such horrendous heartache in his entire life, not even when Yukina said she hated him. He came to an abrupt halt when his eyes fell upon the smoldering remains of what had been once been a city he had lived in. There wasn't even one building left entirely intact. Hiei gaped helplessly at the destroyed city. A calm breeze passed by, bringing along a musky, earthy scent he knew by heart.

"Kuwabara."

Without hesitation Hiei leapt to the ground. He walked slowly into the freshly decimated city. He followed the scent as best as he could without knowing how long ago the scent had been left. He could only do so much, and the realization of his true limitations slashed like a knife through his chest. He didn't know what that feeling was. He had encountered emotions before, some that he felt in his throat, his gut, and his chest, but he had always been able to identify those. Anger, sadness, fear; they were emotions he knew very well.

This wrenching agony resembled anger, sadness, and fear all at the same time. He didn't know what to do with himself. He felt helpless and his disdain for such a weak heart drove him on. He was positive the answers lay with its cause, Kuwabara.

Hiei came upon a corner where he had once known a bar to stand. He had frequented the bar during his stay in the city, and had even gotten on good terms with its owner and the staff there. He couldn't believe it was gone. He had smiled and laughed there, fought with drunks and lay with the patrons for a pretty penny there.

Hiei shook his head. He couldn't let such trivial matters mingle with the feeling in his chest.

"Its guilt, Hiei."

Hiei whipped around, and around again, trying to find the origin of the voice. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiei caught something emerging from a pile of rubble that had once been the city hospital, conveniently located right next door to the city's most popular bar. Hiei ran to the man with speed only he could manage. He unsheathed his sword and held it at the man's throat.

Hiei returned his sword to its rightful place on his hip when he identified the speaker. "Touya, tell me what happened here."

Touya used two ice spires to lift the fallen eaves off of his body. "Better yet, tell me what you're still doing here. Kuwabara's long gone."

"So he was here, then."

"Yes, almost eight hours ago," Touya nodded.

"I heard Yusuke contacted trustworthy people to aid in the search for Koenma and Kuwabara. Why you're among them I have no idea," Hiei said flatly.

"I don't know where Koenma is, but Kuwabara passed through here. I almost wish he hadn't."

Hiei stared at Touya unnervingly.

"This is where you ask why I wish he hadn't passed through here."

"If you know what I'm going to ask, then answer it before I have to ask."

Touya rolled his eyes, clearly irritated by Hiei's attitude. "I tracked Kuwabara and my team anticipated the places he could possibly go. We split up and waited in the towns and city we saw even a possibility of Kuwabara going through. Kuwabara didn't do this, whatever was following him did." Touya dusted his pants off with his hands. "Kuwabara passed through the town Jin was in, and so far Jin's been able to trail them at a safe distance, but I can't get in contact with Jin since my communicator broke in the ... whatever happened here."

"You talk too much."

"I was just... never mind, forget it."

"You said Kuwabara went through. We were under the impression he was kidnapped."

Touya squatted down. "Maybe he was, but I can tell you he isn't anymore. He walked through here by himself."

"I don't believe you. He wouldn't be able to survive in this city."

"I can't explain it myself, but when I tried to get close to him, a building collapsed on me."

"I can't believe that either."

"You're just angry because you feel guilty."

"Why would I have a reason to feel guilty?"

Touya smiled as if he had just played his trump card. "Who was the one who asked Kuwabara to search for Koenma in the first place?"

...

"I bet you miss Eikechi, huh?" Koenma wondered.

Kuwabara looked at him quickly, "Who?"

"Eikechi, your favorite cat," Koenma reminded him firmly.

"I don't own cats." Kuwabara didn't look up from the cutting board.

Kuwabara was making dinner, a vegetable stir fry with grilled chicken on top. He was cutting up the peppers and onions while Koenma sat at the table with his head cradled in his arms.

"Of course you own cats." Koenma sighed. "What do you call this place, then, huh?"

Kuwabara stopped slicing the carrot for a long moment. "It's a cat shelter..."

"But you don't own cats?" Koenma sat up. For the first time since the first let down, Koenma felt he was making progress.

"That doesn't make sense." Kuwabara shook his head. "Of course I own cats." Kuwabara waved off the inconsistency with a hand, and returned to slicing and dicing.

"You just said that you didn't." Koenma pushed his chair out.

"I was lying." Kuwabara turned his back to Koenma. He picked up the cutting board and brought it to the stove. He scraped the vegetables into a hot pan.

"Who's Eikechi?" Koenma asked.

"My bestest friend of course! Right below Uremeshi, though." Kuwabara turned around with an award winning grin. He returned the cutting board to its rightful place on the counter and went back to the stove.

"Then where are the cats? Where's Eikechi?" Koenma urged him on.

"There's only one reason why my cats wouldn't be here..." Kuwabara thought. Kuwabara used a metal spatula to stir the vegetables so they didn't burn.

"Well, what is it?"

"There's been a Cat-napping... no a Catburglary... no... a Grand theft Cat... dang, why don't any of these sound good?" Kuwabara laughed good-naturedly, and turned back to Koenma.

"You said Eikechi was below Yusuke. Where's Yusuke?" Koenma didn't relent.

"In the Makai of course."

"Like the story I keep telling you is real?"

"Like the story..." Kuwabara shook his head. "He's probably visiting his aunt, or maybe Atsuko finally got him out to a single's bar." Kuwabara went back to stirring the vegetables.

"Have you ever been to the Makai?"

"Yeah, plenty o' times." Kuwabara became aware of what he was saying. Kuwabara closed his eyes and grit his teeth. "Don't do this, Koenma," he advised.

"If I make you remember, then we can get out of here."

"Maybe the reason the protagonist, in the script, is holding the other person in their head is to protect them from what's going on outside his mind." Kuwabara was trying to resurrect the barriers Koenma had shattered.

"You know, that's a good point," Koenma gave up with a hefty sigh. "Something has been bothering me, though."

"What's it this time? No romantic interest? No intrigue? No hook for the good guy to say as he sets the baddie up for the ultimate fall?"

"I can't smell the stir fry, or anything else for that matter," Koenma said more to himself. "You sure you turned the burner on?"

"There ain't no such thing as 'smell'. Don't tell me you're making up words now, too."

"Then how many senses are there, Kuwabara?"

"Seven, duh," Kuwabara condescended.

"I'm embarrassed for you, Kuwabara, it's a wonder you passed high school."

"Taste, Touch, Sight, hearing, peanut butter awareness, spirit awareness, and smell, there's your seven senses," Kuwabara stuck his tongue out.

"You said smell, HA!" Koenma pointed a finger at Kuwabara.

Koenma could sense something was wrong the instant the last word left his lips.

...

Yusuke did not know what to do. Sitting around was not the kind of thing he normally did when his best friend in the whole friggin' world was being help captive. And oh, yeah, God Jr. was kidnapped, too. Yusuke could not take anymore paperwork, dead people coming in, Botan's worrying, or George's constant need to be reassured that he didn't suck at his job, when Yusuke knew he kind of really did.

"I can't take this anymore!" Yusuke growled.

"But you will." George entered with a new, large stack of papers to be stamped and signed and then stamped and signed again, and then photo copied and signed one last time before being done in triplicate, which had to be stamped, and then signed. "Y-You look like you're going to kill me, Yusuke..."

"I just may if you keep bringing me all this meaningless paperwork!" Yusuke screamed. The paperwork in George's hand went flying in every direction. "Dammit, George..."

"You're not mad at me, are you sir?"

"Dammit, George..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"DAMMIT GEORGE!"

Botan rushed into the room and ushered the demon out of the room. She returned, "Yusuke, was that really necessary? You scared the daylights out of George. I'd be surprised if he brings you papers again!"

"Then my plan worked," Yusuke said dryly. "Any news?"

"Kurama hasn't found anything worth reporting, but Hiei met up with Touya and he had some interesting news." Botan's happy-go-lucky tone had turned to one of frightened worry. "Kuwabara broke free and is roaming around like a zombie. Not only that, but something of the unnatural variety is following him and destroying everything. Hiei met Touya in one of the destroyed cities."

"Are they alright?" Yusuke asked. Being king of some land was nothing compared to being king of it all. Not only did he have things he needed to attend to in his own life, but he also needed to keep up with Koenma's work. It was taxing on his nerves to be so busy without physically moving. "Did you hear the words outta my mouth or not? Are they alright?"

"Y-Yusuke!" Botan scolded. "Hiei is fine, Kurama is fine. Touya is a little worse for the wear, and no one has been able to get in contact with Jin, but we believe he's just too high in the sky for the communicators to work."

"Dammit Botan..."

"Don't you dare try and pull that one over on me, Yusuke! I understand that you're tired and worried for Kuwabara, but you're not the only one who has someone they love missing." Botan said softly before storming out of the room.

"Dammit Botan..."

...

Kurama twisted the man's head until he heard his neck snap sickeningly.

"Anyone else gonna say they know nothing?" Kurama asked in a sweet, gentlemanly tone.

He stood at the mouth of the cave the mercenaries made camp at. They were a dirty, foul smelling lot, but Kurama would not leave without an answer, no matter how very bad it smelled.

"I'll ask one more time: Where is the human fighter you kidnapped?" Kurama's eyes traveled over the large crowd.

There were stammers and murmurs before shouts and arguing broke out between the men. Kurama felt the migraine he'd been nursing since early that morning come back with a vengeance. He didn't have the patience to deal with the idiots in front of him. He tried, he really did, but one man lay dead at his feet, and he couldn't help but want several more. Maybe that would quench his seemingly insatiable thirst for vengeance against Kuwabara's captors.

"ONE AT A TIME," Kurama roared. He felt his Yohko tendencies flooding back into him at full force.

"We're mercenaries, we're only hired hands. We sold him on the slave market and some rich guy bought him anonymously," one man offered.

"I don't buy that. Mercs don't get hired by the market itself."

"Then some rich guy set it up."

"There must be someone among you who knows more than they're telling me. If you value your worthless lives then you'd better step forward now. If I don't walk out of here with a good lead, I'm slaughtering you all," Kurama promised.

There was silence while the mercenaries looked from one to another before coming to some non-verbal agreement.

"It's all a set up. The resistance Koenma encountered was from someone in one of the four most prominent houses of the Makai, which one is something we don't know." The man who appeared to be the leader of the mercenaries stepped forward.

"You mean the kingdoms, don't you?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

"You must know more than that."

"Well, yeah, we didn't get hired until after that," the man agreed. "The Mercenary Clan was hired for an unbelievable amount. We love cash, but we also fear it. I had some of my most talented men infiltrate each of the houses and do some reconnaissance. If someone is going to pay that much, then there is a reason."

"You have my attention." Kurama's eyes flashed gold before returning to their placid green.

"We learned the truth only after the human was sold into the market. Not even we would've let him out of our sight had we known the truth."

"Out with it already!"

"Koenma was never the target, he was the bait. Someone in the four houses wants the human, and we don't know why."

"Mukuro." Kurama bowed his head to the leader. "I may have to call upon your services in the future."

"This may get traced back to us in the end, so this one's on the house if you keep it hush-hush."

Kurama smirked and nodded before disappearing out of the cave.

...

Kate has the Wings:

Its been a while. I tend to update this story whenever I have writer's block on my original stories. So here we go, chapter 3 at long last. I still haven't decided who exactly wins Kuwabara's affections yet. So it is up to you... still!

Review please XD


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